The Tecumseh Local Schools Hall of Honor will induct three new members on Saturday, April 23, 2016. This year’s inductees are Roger Pankake, TLS 2003 retiree; Reed Romine, longtime Medway resident and contributor to the Tecumseh community; and Bill Scarff, a posthumous honoree and THS graduate, class of 1976. The public is invited to attend the induction ceremony at 2:00 in Pflaumer Auditorium at the high school.
The purpose of the Hall of Honor is to recognize both alumni of Tecumseh and those who have greatly contributed to the district and community. Sponsoring the event will be the Tecumseh Education Foundation, an organization that works to raise money for grants and scholarships for those in the Tecumseh Local School District.
Roger Pankake
Roger Pankake was born September 9, 1945, on the Pensacola Naval Base in Florida. He is married to Wendy Rachlin. His family includes three children: Melissa Pankake (Thomas Wooton), Deron Pankake, and a stepson, Kevin Rachlin (Jennifer). In addition, he has three grandchildren, Kaitlin Pankake, Jaden Pankake, and Chance Wooton.
Roger grew up in Dayton and attended Belmont High School where he participated in football (1962 All-City Football Team) and track. After graduating, he attended Wilmington College, where he participated in football and was awarded several honors. In addition, he was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, an international honor society for history students. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 with a double major in history/government and physical/health education. During his career, he received his Master of Education degree in 1974 from Miami University and his Educational Specialist degree in1982 from the University of Dayton.
From 1967-1979, Roger taught American history and physical education at West Carrollton High School and was successful there as an assistant coach in football (three years), wrestling (two years), and baseball (two years). Continuing his career at Valley View High School (1970 to1974), he taught physical and health education and was very successful as the head football coach. In 1974 he began his administrative career as an assistant principal at Tipp City High School and after four years became principal at Twin Valley North High School.
The following year Roger accepted a position in the Tecumseh Local Schools and began what would become a twenty-three year career in the district. He served in the following positions: Unit Principal at Tecumseh High School (1980-82), Principal at Olive Branch Middle School (1982-85), Principal at Tecumseh High School (1985-88), Assistant Superintendent (1988-97), and Superintendent (1997-03). After retirement Roger has remained a devoted fan of the Arrows as evidenced by the ringtone on his cell phone. It still plays the Tecumseh Arrows fight song.
Under Roger’s leadership as superintendent, the district continued to build and improve on its academic success. There were also several programs and projects previously begun that were implemented or completed during his tenure. These projects included all-day kindergarten; renovation of the athletic stadium with new bleachers, press box and a new scoreboard; and construction of the athletic building (with supervision, labor and material donations from the community.) In addition, he oversaw the development of a plan for the construction of six new buildings. The Ohio School Facilities Commission approved this plan in 2002, and the plan was implemented (2005 to 2007) during the next administration.
Roger’s community and volunteer involvement includes the following: past member and past president of New Carlisle Rotary Club, founding and current member of the New Carlisle Optimist Club, interpreter for the Aviation Center at Carillon Park, and a member of the Board of Trustees and co-president of Temple Beth Or in Centerville.
Reed Romine
Reed Romine was born in the midst of the depression, attended a one-room eight-grade rural school with his future wife, graduated as salutatorian of the Monroe High School, Monroe, Michigan in 1949, earned a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force from the University of Michigan. He has been married to his wife, Myrna for nearly 62 wonderful years. They have been residents of Medway since 1967. They have three sons, all Tecumseh graduates – Richard ’77, Laurence ’81, and Philip ’82 and seven remarkable grandchildren.
When called to active duty, he attended specialized training, and became an armament systems officer for a fighter squadron (F-100Cs) in Texas; after two years there he attended an AF-sponsored graduate “Guided Missile“ course at the University of Michigan which granted MSE degrees in Aeronautical and Instrumentation Engineering. An assignment at the Flight Dynamics Laboratory at WPAFB followed where he was responsible for developing criteria that enabled bomber crews to create flight profiles that would assure the safe delivery of nuclear weapons. In this assignment, he served as the project engineer on Christmas Island that flew specially instrumented B-57 aircraft close to nuclear detonations to validate the empirical formulas used in the previously cited calculations.
After completing his active duty obligations, he accepted a civilian position in the Space Systems Division at the Foreign Technology Division (FTD) at WPAFB where he advanced to become the Division Technical Advisor, the senior civilian. During this period he was the FTD, and often the AF Representative, to the national-level multi-agency Space Systems subcommittee under the Director of Central Intelligence. During the last three years of his career at FTD, he served as chairman of this subcommittee, developing the agenda and chairing the day-long monthly meetings. This subcommittee, while coordinating analysis among the various national agencies was also instrumental in developing the National Intelligence Estimate for Space. As chairman, he led the American Delegation to periodic conferences with the British, Canadian, and Australian Space Intelligence Agencies. He received numerous outstanding performance ratings and the Commander’s Award for Merit - Management (1988). Before retiring from FTD, he visited Soviet aviation and space facilities and the Paris Air Show.
During 55 years as a member of Sulphur Grove Church, Reed has served on and frequently chaired most of the committees, boards, and councils which lay persons are members. For some 30 years he was their lay member to the annual conference. He was instrumental in automating the office and in installing and maintaining the local network server. During this period he also served on district and conference committees, including the Festival of Sharing Committee.
Reed was PTO chairman at the Medway Elementary School, served on the Citizens Advisory Committee, on the CIP committee and is a charter member of the Tecumseh Education Foundation Board of Trustees. He is currently a member of the Medway Area Historical Society.
Reed holds private and commercial pilot licenses with an instrument rating. He was a 25 year member of the Andy Barnhart Airport Flying Club. He coordinated the EAA Young Eagles Program and for ten years edited their monthly chapter newsletter. He provided familiarization flights for the Tecumseh HS AFJROTC students of the month. Reed was a Webelos den leader, a scout committeeman for Troop 28, and for about 20 years has been an election official primarily at Bethel Precinct 2.
William (Bill) Neff Scarff, Jr.
William (Bill) Neff Scarff, Jr. of Laguna Niguel, California passed away on November 22, 2014, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Bill was the first child of Bill Sr. and Jane Scarff, and grew up on the family home at Scarff’s Nursery south of New Carlisle. Bill loved his school days at New Carlisle and Oscar T. Hawke Elementary Schools, Olive Branch Junior High and Tecumseh High School where he graduated in 1976. He played first singles on the varsity tennis team and occasionally made a formidable doubles team with his brother, Peter. After graduating, he attended The Ohio State University for his Bachelor’s degree in horticulture. There he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. After college, he joined the family legacy at Scarff’s Nursery (founded circa 1889), growing the landscape department from inception to one of the most well-respected in the region. While working at the nursery, he earned his Master’s degree in business administration from Wright State University.
In 1989, Bill moved to Long Beach, California, to pursue his Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Law Center. Bill began his law career at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro, then transitioned to assistant general counsel for ConAgra Foods. In 2000, Bill joined Allergan where he worked for the rest of his career. As Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Litigation Counsel, he was responsible for all litigation, including intellectual property, commercial disputes, and product liability. In his 14 years with Allergan, he lost only one case.
Bill was very active in the legal community, including Allergan’s in-house mentoring program and the Orange County (California) Bar Association Charitable Fund. He was a strong supporter of the Collaborative Courts Foundation, which serves specialized legal programs such as Veterans’ Court and Drug Court in Orange County. He was also a leader in his community, volunteering for United Cerebral Palsy Orange County Life Without Limits campaigns. He served on the Grant Review Committee for the Allergan Foundation, which distributes millions of dollars annually to local charities serving Orange County. He was a contributor to United Way of Orange County and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He was a strong supporter of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Bill was selected for a number of honors during his lifetime, and one honor that brought him special pride was the 2014 General Counsel of the Year Award through the Orange County Business Journal.
Bill remained an avid athlete, completing 16 marathons, including three Boston Marathons. He also enjoyed swimming, skiing, hiking, tennis, and golf. He listened to music incessantly. He loved his Ohio roots - each season he named his fantasy baseball team after a team from the New Carlisle Little League Baseball of his youth. He remained a lifelong fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Tecumseh Arrows.
He passed his love of sports on to the two he loved most - his sons. Ryan Scarff is a junior at University of California Berkeley majoring in economics, and Connor Scarff will graduate from high school this spring and then follow in his father’s footsteps by attending The Ohio State University in the fall. Bill was passionately devoted to his wife, Maureen Meehan Aplin. They ran thousands of miles together, traveled the world, and raised their four children, including Bill’s two beloved step-children, Chase and Ally Aplin, in a loving and fun-filled home.
